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Speaker

Nova Spivack

Nova Spivack is one of the leading voices of the emerging Semantic Web, what is sometimes referred to as Web 3.0. Nova founded Radar Networks to develop the next-evolution of social software, based on the Semantic Web. Novas weblog, Minding the Planet, focuses on Radar Networks, Web 3.0, and emerging science & technology.

Technology Leadership

Nova has built leading Internet services since the inception of the Web. In 1994, Nova co-founded EarthWeb, one of the first Internet companies. EarthWeb went public in 1998 and resulted in the Nasdaq's largest IPO single-day percentage point gain up to that point, spawning a wave of Tech IPOs. EarthWebs content properties were acquired in 2000 by Internet.com, while the companys Dice.com property remained a stand-alone business until it was acquired for approximately $200 million in 2005.

While at EarthWeb Nova led key cultural institutions and businesses to develop their first large-scale Web presences, including the New York Stock Exchange, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, BMG Music Club, Sony, AT&T, US West, and others. He also helped to catalyze the adoption of Java technology by leading the production of large online technology communities for IT professionals, including Gamelan.com, Developer.com, and Datamation.com.

Prior to EarthWeb, Nova worked at artificial intelligence and supercomputing ventures including Individual, Inc., Xerox/Kurzweil and Thinking Machines.

Nova is also the founder of Lucid Ventures, an early-stage incubator that originated the technologies that are now Radar Networks. Nova is a co-founder of the San Francisco Web Innovators Network (SFWIN), a network of several hundred technology innovators and business leaders who meet monthly in the Bay Area.

Nova worked with SRI and Sarnoff Laboratories at the end of the 90s to helped to co-found nVention, SRIs in-house technology incubator.
Nova also helped to invent key technologies for interactive television and Web convergence in the early days of the Web, as well as several pending patents for Radar Networks.

The Semantic Web

Radar Networks is one of the leading venture-funded companies working to bring the Semantic Web to consumers. Nova has led the strategic direction of the company, the technology and the products since the company was founded and began R&D in 2003.

Nova has extensive experience working on knowledge representation and the Semantic Web, and has authored and helped to design several large ontologies in the OWL language, the W3C open standard for ontology specifications.
Nova has also worked with SRI International on the DARPA CALO program, a distributed research program encompassing hundreds of top researchers focused on next-generation knowledge management and machine-learning applications, and in particular on the IRIS Semantic Desktop project.

Interests and Adventures

Nova has a long-time interest in cognitive science, artificial intelligence, emergent computation, knowledge management and the emerging Semantic Web. As a grandson of management guru Peter F. Drucker, he shares his familys heritage of interests in management theory, nonprofits, and knowledge work.
Nova has been a student of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, art and culture for nearly 20 years and has pursued this interest extensively in monasteries, refugee camps and communities in Nepal, India, Europe and the USA. Nova focuses his philanthropic activities on helping to fund the preservation of Tibets unique wisdom culture.

Nova has a BA in Philosophy, with a focus on cognitive science and artificial intelligence, from Oberlin College and a CSS degree from the International Space University a NASA-funded graduate professional business school for the space industry.

In 1999 Novas interest in space gave him the opportunity to help pioneer the early days of space tourism when he flew to the edge of space with Space Adventures and did micro-gravity parabolic flight training with the Russian air force.

Speaking and Writing

Nova has co-authored several books on Internet strategy and technology and led the EarthWeb Press publishing imprint with Macmillan Computer Publishing, one of the largest computer book publishers, which resulted in a series of publications by leading authors on technology.